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List of heads of state of Barbados

{{Short description|none}}

{{Politics of Barbados}}

This is a list of the heads of state of Barbados, from the independence of Barbados under the Barbados Independence Act 1966 to the present day.

From 30 November 1966 until 30 November 2021, the head of state was the Queen of Barbados, Elizabeth II, who was also the Monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, represented in Barbados by a Governor-General.

Since 30 November 2021, the head of state is the President of Barbados.

Monarch (1966–2021)

The succession to the Barbadian throne was the same as the succession to the British throne.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!rowspan=2|{{Abbr|No.|Number}}

!rowspan=2|Monarch
{{small|(Birth–Death)}}

!rowspan=2|Portrait

!colspan=3|Reign

!rowspan=2|Royal House

!rowspan=2|Prime Minister

Reign start

!Reign end

!Duration

1

| Queen Elizabeth II
{{small|(1926–2022)}}

| 80x80px

| {{nowrap|30 November}} 1966

| {{nowrap|30 November 2021

| {{age in years|1966|11|30|2021|11|30}} years

| Windsor

| Barrow
Adams
St. John
Sandiford
Arthur
Thompson
Stuart
Mottley

=Governor-General=

Under the Constitution of Barbados, before its amendment in 2021, the governor-general was the representative of the monarch in Barbados and exercised most of the powers of the monarch. The governor-general was appointed for an indefinite term, serving at the pleasure of the monarch. Since Barbados was granted independence by the Barbados Independence Act 1966, rather than being first established as a semi-autonomous Dominion and later promoted to independence by the Statute of Westminster 1931, the governor-general had always been appointed solely on the advice of the Cabinet of Barbados, without the involvement of the British government, with the sole exception of John Montague Stow, the last colonial governor, who served as governor-general temporarily until he was replaced by Sir Arleigh Winston Scott. In the event of a vacancy the chief justice served as administrator of the government.

;Status

{{legend|#E6E6AA|Denotes Chief Justice acting as Officer Administering the Government}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!rowspan=2|{{Abbr|No.|Number}}

!rowspan=2|Portrait

!rowspan=2|Governor-General
{{small|(Birth–Death)}}

!colspan=3|Term of office

!rowspan=2|Monarch

!rowspan=2|Prime Minister

Took office

!Left office

!Time in office

1

| 60px

| Sir John Montague Stow
{{small|(1911–1997)}}

| {{nowrap|30 November}} 1966

| {{nowrap|18 May}} 1967

| {{ayd|1966|11|30|1967|5|18}}

| rowspan="14" | Elizabeth II

| rowspan="2" | Barrow

2

| 60px

| Sir Arleigh Winston Scott
{{small|(1900–1976)}}

| {{nowrap|18 May}} 1967

| {{nowrap|9 August}} 1976
{{small|(died in office.)}}

| {{ayd|1967|5|18|1976|8|9}}

style="background:#e6e6aa;"

| –

| 60px

| Sir William Randolph Douglas
{{small|(1921–2003)}}

| {{nowrap|9 August}} 1976

| {{nowrap|17 November}} 1976

| {{ayd|1976|8|9|1976|11|17}}

| Barrow
Adams

3

| 60px

| Sir Deighton Lisle Ward
{{small|(1909–1984)}}

| {{nowrap|17 November}} 1976

| {{nowrap|9 January}} 1984
{{small|(died in office.)}}

| {{ayd|1976|11|17|1984|1|9}}

| rowspan="2" | Adams

style="background:#e6e6aa;"

| –

| 60px

| Sir William Randolph Douglas
{{small|(1921–2003)}}

| {{nowrap|9 January}} 1984

| {{nowrap|24 February}} 1984

| {{ayd|1984|1|9|1984|2|24}}

4

| 60px

| Sir Hugh Springer
{{small|(1913–1994)}}

| {{nowrap|24 February}} 1984

| {{nowrap|6 June}} 1990

| {{ayd|1984|2|24|1990|6|6}}

| Adams
St. John
Barrow
Sandiford

5

|

| Dame Nita Barrow
{{small|(1916–1995)}}

| {{nowrap|6 June}} 1990

| {{nowrap|19 November}} 1995
{{small|(died in office.)}}

| {{ayd|1990|6|6|1995|11|19}}

| Sandiford
Arthur

style="background:#e6e6aa;"

| –

| 60px

| Sir Denys Williams
{{small|(1929–2014)}}

| {{nowrap|19 December}} 1995

| {{nowrap|1 June}} 1996

| {{ayd|1995|12|19|1996|6|1}}

| Arthur

6

|

| Sir Clifford Husbands
{{small|(1926–2017)}}

| {{nowrap|1 June}} 1996

| {{nowrap|31 October}} 2011

| {{ayd|1996|6|1|2011|10|31}}

| Arthur
Thompson
Stuart

style="background:#e6e6aa;"

| – Judge of the Supreme Court

| 60px

| Elliott Belgrave
{{small|(born 1931)}}

| {{nowrap|31 October}} 2011

| {{nowrap|30 May}} 2012

| {{ayd|2011|10|31|2012|5|30}}

| rowspan="2" | Stuart

style="background:#e6e6aa;"

| – Judge of the Supreme Court

| 60px

| Sandra Mason
{{small|(born 1949)}}

| {{nowrap|30 May}} 2012

| {{nowrap|1 June}} 2012

| {{ayd|2012|5|30|2012|6|1}}

7

| 60px

| Sir Elliott Belgrave
{{small|(born 1931)}}

| {{nowrap|1 June}} 2012

| {{nowrap|30 June}} 2017

| {{ayd|2012|6|1|2017|6|30}}

| rowspan="2" | Stuart

style="background:#e6e6aa;"

| – Former Deputy Prime Minister

| 60px

| Sir Philip Greaves
{{small|(born 1931)}}

| {{nowrap|1 July}} 2017

| {{nowrap|8 January}} 2018

| {{ayd|2017|7|1|2018|1|8}}

8

| 60px

| Dame Sandra Mason
{{small|(born 1949)}}

| {{nowrap|8 January}} 2018

| {{nowrap|30 November}} 2021

| {{ayd|2018|1|8|2021|11|30}}

| Stuart
Mottley

President (2021–present)

Under the Constitution of Barbados, as amended in 2021, the position of president of Barbados replaced the monarch as head of state. The position of president is elected by parliament for a four-year term. In the event of a vacancy, or for any reason the president is unable to perform the functions conferred upon them by the constitution, those functions are performed by an acting president appointed by the prime minister, after consultation with the leader of the opposition. However, while the president is suspended from office in case of ongoing impeachment proceedings, the president of the Senate of Barbados serves as acting president. The presidential line of succession is not defined beyond that.

{{legend|#E6E6AA|Denotes Acting President}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!rowspan=2|{{Abbr|No.|Number}}

!rowspan=2|Portrait

!rowspan=2|President
{{small|(Birth–Death)}}

!rowspan=2|Elected

!colspan=3|Term of office

!rowspan=2|Prime Minister

Took office

!Left office

!Time in office

1

| 60px

| Sandra Mason
{{small|(born 1949)}}

| 2021

| {{nowrap|30 November}} 2021

| {{nowrap|Incumbent}}

| {{ayd|2021|11|30}}

| Mottley

Standards

File:Royal Standard of Barbados.svg|Royal Standard

File:Flag of the Governor-General of Barbados.svg|Governor-General's Standard

File:Flag of the President of Barbados.svg|Presidential Standard

Timeline

{{#tag:timeline|

ImageSize = width:600 height:auto barincrement:25

PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:130 left:20

AlignBars = late

Colors =

id:monarch value:purple legend: Monarch

id:pres value: blue legend: President

id:gray1 value:gray(0.85)

id:gray2 value:gray(0.95)

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy

Period = from:01/01/1966 till:{{#time:d/m/Y}}

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1966

ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1966

Legend = columns:1 left:205 top:35 columnwidth:75

TextData =

pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:M

text:"Heads of State:"

BarData=

bar:Elizabeth(II)

bar:Mason

PlotData=

width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:Elizabeth(II)

from: 30/11/1966 till: 30/11/2021 color:monarch text:"Elizabeth II" fontsize:10

bar: Mason

from: 30/11/2021 till: {{#time:d/m/Y}} color:pres text:"Sandra Mason" fontsize:10

}}

References

  • [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Barbados.html World Statesmen – Barbados]
  • [http://rulers.org/rulb1.html#barbados Rulers.org – Barbados]

{{Heads of State of Barbados}}

{{Governors-General of Barbados|state=collapsed}}

Category:Government of Barbados

Category:Monarchy of Barbados

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Heads of state

Barbados